Dance with Emotion

     After watching the dance performance of those excellent dancers, I feel the magic and attraction of the dance world. The dance performance, lighting and costumes blend seamlessly into a performance as aesthetically and emotionally engaging as it is fascinating. All the dances are look like telling stories. In terms of genre, Mark Morris Dance Group’s “Jenn and Spencer” and Alvin Ailey Dance Company’s “Wade in the water” all belong to the contemporary modern dance. However, I can find some elements of ballet. As we all know, Dance is usually performed with emotion. In comparison, the emotions on these two works are different. Let us talk about the Mark Morris Dance Group’s “Jenn and Spencer” which with the sad emotion first.

            “Jenn and Spencer” is performed by a girl and a boy who look like couples. Thus, I take this dance as a loving story. At the beginning, they dance in the same symmetry action. Their gentle movements carry the strong emotions which show the entangled but happy time. Sometimes, they are closed to each other; sometimes, they are far. Two people are eager to close but not possible, so they can just hug for a short time in such a tragic dance conflict. Different music should be combined with different dance and different emotion in different periods. In the second part of “Jenn and Spencer”, the girl dances as an elegant sculpture while the boy dances around her, which show that he adores her as a goddess. Under the girl’s proud and the boy’s doting on her, the girl makes the movement of flying on his feet. Then, their movements are exchanged: the girl walks, runs, and dances around the boy. However, they are struggled rather than happy. They just use modern dance’s technology “from falling down to climbing up” and “from tense movements to relax movements” to performance their struggle process in their hearts. Only by these movements, we can see the tragic aesthetic image. In the third part, the pas DE deux changes to the solo with lively emotion. The change in dances expresses that they are independent but still happy in love. The movements in the fourth part are together and slow. They passed their passion stage and can walk together to the future. Unfortunately, the ending is not beautifully as our expectations. The girl abandons the boy and runs away.

Tragic problem actually focuses on the ambivalence inside, so the key to a successful dance performance is whether the dancers can create a series of exciting dances (especially the pas DE deux) in the critical moment which can impulse the story’s development.

            Alvin Ailey Dance Company’s “Wade in the water” is an energetic dance in a happy emotion. The water is flowing gently, so the dancers use the movement of writhe to show the beauty of the lines. The dancers writhe and shake their heads, waist, and arms. From the dance performance, we are likely to see the change in water velocity. In addition, the “water” leads the dancers to the same movement. The white costumes and the blue ribbon bring the audience to a real water world. The blue ribbons look like the water, while white dresses are like some spoondrifts. The whole scene on the stage is full of the modern dance’s aesthetic energy.  The dance movements are Majestic but full of tension. The infinite energy is hidden in every seemingly light action which leads audiences to feeling the beauty of body and power. We are likely to immerse in the atmosphere of religious devotion. 

            The Alvin Ailey Dance Group absorbs a huge amount of the dance elements of the traditional South American spirit dance. In that way, the performance brings the special happy scene to the audience. Meanwhile, it integrates the contemporary modern dance style and ballet which show the beauty of both dance lines and powers.